Ship With Gaza Aid Ready to Set Sail From Cyprus

ATHENS (dpa/TNS) — The Open Arms rescue ship of the eponymous Spanish aid organization is fully loaded with humanitarian supplies for Gaza and can imminently depart from the Cypriot port of Larnaca, officials said on Sunday.

The 37-meter-long converted tugboat, carrying around 200 tons of drinking water, medicines and food, should weigh anchor by Sunday evening at the latest, the island’s government said.

This is a test run along the route of a planned aid corridor announced by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulidis on Friday.

Von der Leyen had previously inspected the facilities in the port, which the EU island republic has made available for aid deliveries from various countries and organizations.

Larnaca is around 400 kilometers away from the Gaza Strip and the voyage carries risks, including strong winds that often blow in the eastern Mediterranean.

The Open Arms will pull a platform behind it loaded with the bulk of the relief supplies, according to Cypriot media.

Cyprus will be responsible for the vessel until it leaves Cypriot territorial waters. “After that, the ship will be monitored by satellites and radars of other actors,” a government spokesperson told dpa.

It is unclear where and how the ship will unload its cargo once it arrives off the coast of Gaza. Only a small fishing harbor is available for unloading, but it is not deep enough for cargo ships.

The U.S. military wants to set up a temporary harbor together with international partners, but says it will take two months to build.

The humanitarian situation of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip has been worsening dramatically for weeks, with a critical shortage of basic necessities.

The Gaza war was triggered by a massacre carried out by terrorists from the Palestinian Islamist Hamas and other extremist groups in southern Israel on October 7.

More than 1,200 people were killed on the Israeli side and some 240 were kidnapped and taken to Gaza. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive.

According to the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza, more than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war. Hamas does not differentiate between terrorist and civilian deaths.